Spanish Donuts with Spiced Chocolate (Chocolate con Rosquillas)

One thing occurred to me while I was writing this post… do you spell it doughnut or donut? And is it usually spelt different in Australia, USA and Europe? Can anybody satisfy my inane curiosity?

Anyway, whether it’s spelt doughnut or donut (my preferred lazy way!), it seems like I’m obsessed with these sugary morsels at the moment. And I’m not the onlyone (the latter is to blame for inducing the cravings!). I made these donut cakesrecently but despite that, I’m still secretly picturing everything dusted with cinnamon sugar. You see, I love cinnamon. By far, it’s my favourite spice and I always find some way to incorporate it into all my baking exploits because nothing beats the smell of it. In fact, wait till you see the next recipe. It’s pure cinnamon love (shameless plug, I know, I know).

I’ve mentioned on the blog before that Spanish food has a special place in my heart for their homely cuisine and fabulous desserts. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Spanish churros, those crunchy tubulars of deep-fried goodness that’s covered in cinnamon and sugar? Obviously not many people are lucky to have the equipment needed to make churros and sometimes, you really don’t feel like taking out the piping set so these are perfect. They yield the same crunch and just demand to be dipped in any chocolatey substance.

Seriously, how can you not love a country that eats donuts and chocolate for breakfast?!

Sift into a large bowl the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon and mix to combine.

Whisk in a separate bowl the milk, eggs and cooled melted butter. Add liquid ingredients to flour and whisk together to form a thick batter (it’ll be a little sticky).

Heat about 4 cm of oil in a pan to 180°C (it’s the right temperature when a piece of bread cooks to golden in 30 seconds).

Dust your hands with flour and form teaspoon-sized balls and drop into pan. Cook each side for about a minute until evenly golden. Don’t cook too much at one time or it’ll drop the temperature of the oil, which will make the donuts really heavy with grease.

Remove with a slotted spoon and toss in the cinnamon sugar until coated. You can keep the donuts warm in a low oven (about 100°C) until all of it has been cooked. Best eaten warm on the day.

Combine milk, cream, spices and liqueur (if using) in a pan and bring to the simmer over low heat. Add chocolate and stir continuously over low heat until melted and combined. Keep warm while you cook the donuts.

Note: To change up the chocolate, use Grand Marnier and replace spices with large strips of rind from an orange (in which after you bring it to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly over low heat to infuse. Strain to remove rind and then add the chocolate as instructed). Alternatively use a different chocolate flavoured with orange, mint or spices.

Btw, if you’re wondering why my chocolate is so thick in the photos, that’s because I added a little cornflour because I felt like an ultra thick hot chocolate to eat with a spoon! You don’t have to follow my whimsical moods :P).

I found a much easier way that is just as tasty! take Pillsbury biscuits ( not the grands) the buttermilk, and cut out holes (donut holes) and fry them roll them in cinnamon sugar! they are amazing! serve with strawberrry or chocolate sauce!

I was wondering if rosquilla was the right term (the recipe that I adapted from used it). But I saw a rosquilla recipe in a Spanish cookbook recently and the donut was a different shape (exactly like the picture you showed me). So as I understand it, both buñuelo and rosquilla means donut but the different terms refers to the shape?

In fact buñuelo is just doughtnut translation to spanish. Rosquillas are called when made as a torus. There are several kinds of rosquillas, from near cookie dry dough to fluffy as a doughnut style, being more common the ones of the dry kind.

I came across your post in google reader, and I found it quite interesting. Anyway, the reason I write this comment is to let you know that I am spanish, and here in Spain we would never call that "rosquilla". That kind of sweet is called "buñuelo". Both "buñuelo" and "rosquilla" translate to donut.

They look absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful food and beautiful photos. Think they would also be great with the chocolate sauce as a filling inside the donut (and, for the truly gluttonous – ahem! – dipped into the sauce as well. I would love to try making them myself, but the deep-frying thing is a bit of a terror! They do seem to be becoming the latest thing to be gourmet-ed, though – these ones of Cannelle et Vanille were the first ones that got my attention:http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2010/03/cher…

Oooooh yes, adding Grand Marnier to the chocolate sounds heavenly. It's things like this that make buying that ridiculously expensive bottle of Grand Marnier sitting on my fridge worthwhile. Thank you for justifying the expense :D

I just ate breakfast before reading this, so no delicious donutty breakfast for me today. Still… tomorrow is Saturday. Perfect for donut brekky!

Your photos are too lovely for words. The presentation, colors, and clarity are perfect. I've never heard of these rosquillas. I'm going to make these ASAP. The spiced chocolate sounds amazing as well; I bet they would be great accompaniments to churros as well.

LOL I was just saying that you were obsessed and then I come on here and see Suze's comment. Yes to more donuts/doughnuts! Especially with chocolate, yum. Apparently we spell it doughnut here, except for the chain donut king I guess?